It’s National Poetry Month this April and what better way to celebrate than a chat with author, poet, and creative writing instructor Karen Benke.
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By: Jason Boog,
on 11/13/2012
Blog: Galley Cat (Mediabistro) (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Obituaries, Jack Gilbert, Add a tag
By: Beth Kephart ,
on 2/23/2009
Blog: Beth Kephart Books (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: the Oscars, Jack Gilbert, Sven Birkerts, writing workshop for teens, Pablo Neruda, Mary Oliver, Barcelona, Stanley Kunitz, Salvador Dali, Gerald Stern, Natalia GInzburg, Forrest Gander, Add a tag
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By: Nicki Richesin,
on 4/12/2014
Blog: The Children's Book Review (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Cheryl Strayed, Poetry & Rhyme, Catherine Barnett, Book Writing Help, Joseph Stroud, Karen Benke, Writing Tips, Ages 4-8, Ages 9-12, Creative Writing, Interactive, Author Interviews, featured, National Poetry Month, Elizabeth Bishop, Activity Books, Jane Hirshfield, Keri Smith, Ann Patchett, Jack Gilbert, Austin Kleon, Tips For Writing, Linda Gregg, Add a tag
Blog: The Children's Book Review (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Cheryl Strayed, Poetry & Rhyme, Catherine Barnett, Book Writing Help, Joseph Stroud, Karen Benke, Writing Tips, Ages 4-8, Ages 9-12, Creative Writing, Interactive, Author Interviews, featured, National Poetry Month, Elizabeth Bishop, Activity Books, Jane Hirshfield, Keri Smith, Ann Patchett, Jack Gilbert, Austin Kleon, Tips For Writing, Linda Gregg, Add a tag
By: Jason Boog,
on 11/13/2012
Blog: Galley Cat (Mediabistro) (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Obituaries, Jack Gilbert, Add a tag
Poet Jack Gilbert has passed away at 87 years old. Follow this link to explore Collected Poems, his life work published earlier this year.
Earlier this week, the LA Times released a profile of the poet, an excellent introduction to his life and work. In 2005, The Paris Review published a long interview with the poet, here is an excerpt, sharing his thoughts about poetry:
I think serious poems should make something happen that’s not correct or entertaining or clever. I want something that matters to my heart, and I don’t mean “Linda left me.” I don’t want that. I’ll write that poem, but that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about being in danger—as we all are—of dying. How can you spend your life on games or intricately accomplished things? And politics? Politics is fine. There’s a place to care for the injustice of the world, but that’s not what the poem is about. The poem is about the heart. Not the heart as in “I’m in love” or “my girl cheated on me”—I mean the conscious heart, the fact that we are the only things in the entire universe that know true consciousness. We’re the only things—leaving religion out of it—we’re the only things in the world that know spring is coming.
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By: Beth Kephart ,
on 2/23/2009
Blog: Beth Kephart Books (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: the Oscars, Jack Gilbert, Sven Birkerts, writing workshop for teens, Pablo Neruda, Mary Oliver, Barcelona, Stanley Kunitz, Salvador Dali, Gerald Stern, Natalia GInzburg, Forrest Gander, Add a tag
It was a movie weekend—"Slumdog Millionaire" at ten on Friday night, "Frost/Nixon" at 4:15 Sunday, "Mongol," courtesy of Netflix, in between, late Saturday afternoon. And then the Oscars, a tradition strong as Christmas here—a semi-glamorous meal delivered picnic style while the "barely mint" dresses float by. The Oscars always make me cry. Call me a sentimental fool (you won't be the first), but I like seeing dreams fulfilled. I like the idea that it's possible.
In between, I was walking about my humble abode feeling knocked-down grateful for all the book recommendations that came my way via Looking for Book Love, for all the passion that is out there, still, for stories that cling to the page. While I considered the titles that came in, I read essays on writing and craft—re-read them, I should say, in preparation for Tuesday, when I'll spend a chunk of the day in a coffee shop with aspiring young writers. Sven Birkerts, Natalia Ginzburg, Mary Oliver, Jack Gilbert, Gerald Stern, Stanley Kunitz, Forrest Gander, and of course Pablo Neruda will keep me and the girls company throughout a day that will also be spent collecting and sorting the details we hunt down with our cameras.
We'll yield to six exercises, which I've named the following way. I plan to write right alongside the girls, for I am not the sort of writer who believes she definitively knows. I'm the sort who keeps trying to find out. Who learns as she teaches, and as she goes.
The class in brief (should you wish to write along...):
Leveraging Involuntary Memory
The Perceiving I
The Hunt for Character
The Fair Release of Story
The Act of Autobiography
Vulnerable Fictions
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That's a lot of movies!
I wouldn't call you a fool because you cry while watching Oscars. I also cry when I see other people's dreams fulfilled, it gives me hope that not all is lost.
I always cry at happy endings, and it really IS emotional to see someone who has worked really hard and deserves it, get the recognition they are due... On a different note, I'd love to "write along" but have some catching up to do... ...do I catch up by reading your blog from the start? (I'm an aspiring writer and have started working on the draft I'm hoping to actually do something with - there have been at least a dozen before it....) Anna x
Lilly: An unprecedented number of movies. And just what I felt like doing. It was grand.
Anna—what a sweet question. This blog is about 18 months old now. I would say that half of it, at least, is devoted to commentary on the writing life—issues I've faced, questions I've been asked, decisions I've made, books I've read and liked.
A fair share of the rest of it is work in progress—a poem, a slice of life essay.
So that perhaps (and hopefully) there will be something here. I typically tag process questions with "the writers life" or "the writing life." That might be a good way to start. Good luck with your work!
Ive never thought of the oscars that way, but its true isnt it ?
Lisa x
Thank You
I agree with you about the Oscars. Though, I'm wondering what it was with all those dresses--stiff, architectural shapes or the mermaid fishtails--all uncomfortable looking. What is the meaning of these?
Your class sounds wonderful...
I think I'm the only person in LA who didn't watch the Oscars (shhh!)
And I can't help but be envious of the experience those girls will have with you as their teacher! Such wonderful fortune!
Have a blast...I know you will.
XO
Anna
You may guess that Oscar night is a special night around here. (A big bowl of fresh strawberries were part of our celebration.) The night provides us with a fresh injection of hope and encouragement. We soak in all that magic of dreams come true.
Aren't you glad you watched Slumdog before the Awards? We watched with a friend who was *dying* because he hadn't.
I think the most powerful message the Oscars give is that Anything Is Possible. It's one thing to know and believe that (as I so fervently do), but quite another to actually see real, living proof of that right there on that stage. It's happening now. It's such an inspiring and empowering thing to witness.
(And I always cry, too. :)
I'm hugging you all today, for your notes. I'm still floating a little on the Oscar high, then watching post-show interviews. Penelope Cruz had the most interesting thing to say on a video I saw, about the importance of yielding to a director.
Vivian, I couldn't ever walk in one of those dresses. But I thought Marisa T was gorgeous, breathtaking.
My favorite part was the supporting actress moment, right at the front, when the actresses of yore spoke to the actresses of today. I was sobbing.
Can't wait to hear how the exercises turned out!
I always miss the Oscars but I love seeing pictures of the dresses afterwards. :)
And I'm looking forward to hearing more about your teaching. Maybe one day I'll be lucky enough to take a class of yours.
How I wish I could have been part of the coffee shop girls, writing along with you :)